Tag Archives: Amothel

“You’re a normal human—physically, at least. Mentally, no…” She shook her head again. “But that doesn’t matter. If I’m that far gone, I’m not going to be able to control what happens when I’m offered what I need to fix myself.

“When the Bloodlords created the Bloodmaiden to protect our land, they borrowed ideas from the Elders. They were a lot like vampires, but they were alive. Their hunger for blood lives on in the Bloodmaiden construct, but also in all the noble families of my world because we’re partially descended from them. Some people believe it’s why we can use magic.

“You can’t trust the Bloodmaiden construct if I’m dying. Find me an animal or let it happen.” She stared at me, waiting, I assumed, for my response. Continue reading Harvest: Part 16→

Whatever sorcery had created the Graffiti Knight’s staff, it worked against The Thing That Eats. He hit it, and with every hit, the Thing That Eats deflated a little more and the embodied ghosts faded.

With the last hit, any remains of The Thing disappeared, leaving Necromancer bruised, bloodied and unconscious. In that same blow, all the ghosts disappeared.

Vengeance stood straighter. “We can banish you from this universe. Don’t think we can’t—”

He didn’t get to finish the sentence. In that moment, Alden’s head changed to that of The Thing That Eats. He wasn’t the only one. With a scream, the head of the woman that the elf had called Necromancer changed too.

Her hands continued to smoke, but she didn’t use them. The Thing’s mouth opened and swallowed the Graffiti Knight, weird, inscribed armor and all. Continue reading Harvest: Part 5→

From behind me, I heard the sound of a seatbelt clasp clicking open. After a few footsteps, Rod pushed his way to the front between Amy and me.

“Hey,” Cassie said, but Rod ignored her.

“The Graffiti Knight. Rumor in the magical community is that the Council got some guy to wear that armor. I heard that it’s cursed or connected to an old god or something. There’s a price for using it, so they only get it out for emergencies.”

“The gun thinks I should shoot him now.” Cassie stood, pointing the gun in his general direction, but not directly at him.

“Does it have anything nonlethal?” I watched Alden as he stood. The combination of speedster and being infected meant that he’d be able to do more damage than I liked to think.

The only person fast enough to counter him inside the city was Kid Biohack, and he didn’t have a ward to protect him.

Thinking strategically, killing Alden was a good choice. Morally, killing someone who was controlled by an outside force struck me as questionable—except that if keeping him alive destroyed the city, killing my parents and untold others…

“If you value your lives and the lives of those you care about, you’ll intervene from a distance if at all. If that creature bites you, you’ll be linked to it, or worse, become part of it.”

She watched me, waiting, I guessed, for my response.

“We won’t, at least most of us. We’ve been warded against it. I know you don’t like the source, but it works, and if you think about it, I’d bet that the blood magic you’re familiar with can’t do that.”